Soap Plant / Wacko

A Family Business Gone Wonderfully Sideways

Walk into Soap Plant / Wacko and you’re stepping into what happens when a 1971 soap shop evolves across five decades without losing its soul. Barbara and Hank Shire started this venture selling handmade soaps in Los Feliz. Their son Billy made leather outfits for Elton John and the New York Dolls. One of his studded denim jackets won a Levi Strauss design competition in 1973 and later hung in LACMA. That’s the origin story—a family making things by hand and getting noticed for it.

By the early 1980s, Billy took over and moved operations to Melrose Avenue, expanding inventory to include books, ceramics, and imported toys. He opened WACKO in 1984 to house the overflow of pop culture artifacts. In 1986, he turned upstairs storage space into La Luz de Jesus Gallery after his Day of the Dead skeleton sculptures needed somewhere to go. What started as a soap shop became the birthplace of California’s lowbrow art movement.

What You’ll Find Inside

The current Hollywood Boulevard location sprawls across 6,500 square feet packed floor to ceiling with inventory. Aisles are organized by interest rather than logic—occult books sit near death-themed greeting cards, which neighbor shelves of vintage tin toys from China. The postcard collection alone spans thousands of options. You’ll find handmade soaps and perfume oils alongside rubber novelties, obscure art books, and taxidermy specimens.

The back room houses darker curiosities: pinned insects under glass, preserved scorpions, turtle shells, deer feet. It feels like walking into a natural history museum designed by someone with a taste for the macabre. Staff are friendly and knowledgeable, happy to help you find whatever strange thing you didn’t know you needed.

The La Luz de Jesus Gallery

Located toward the back of the shop, this gallery space has launched careers for artists who became lowbrow legends—Manuel Ocampo, Joe Coleman, Robert Williams, Shag. Juxtapoz Magazine dubbed owner Billy Shire “the Peggy Guggenheim of Lowbrow” for his role in fostering this art movement. Monthly exhibits feature figurative paintings, pop surrealism, folk art, and outsider art that ranges from whimsical to provocative.

First Friday openings draw massive crowds. These aren’t quiet gallery affairs—they’re packed events with live music, performance art, and artists mingling with fans. Admission to the gallery is free, and exhibits rotate monthly, so there’s always something new.

The Reality of Visiting

Plan to spend at least an hour here if you’re actually browsing. The sheer volume of items means you’ll keep discovering new corners and shelves. Prices range widely—you can grab a $3 postcard or drop $500 on original art. The handmade soaps and oils maintain connection to the shop’s roots and make good gifts.

Parking is street-only and can be challenging, especially on First Fridays when the gallery opens a new show. Hollywood Boulevard gets congested. Arrive early or be prepared to circle the block. The store itself gets crowded on weekends but remains manageable on weekday afternoons.

Why It Matters

Soap Plant / Wacko survives as one of LA’s last truly independent cultural hubs. It didn’t chase trends or gentrify into blandness. Billy Shire kept collecting weird stuff, kept showing underground artists, and kept the place weird when Melrose Avenue commercialized around him. That’s why it moved back to Los Feliz in 1995—to stay true to what it was.

The gallery’s impact on art history is real. Artists who got their first shows here went on to define a movement. The shop’s monthly openings became legendary for good reason—they brought together musicians, artists, and fans in a city where those scenes often stay separate. Five decades later, it’s still family-run, still strange, and still the kind of place that can only exist in Los Angeles.